Could China’s economic arsenal against Japan backfire?

When it deemed remarks on Taiwan by Japan’s new prime minister as provocative, China did not just issue a diplomatic rebuke to Tokyo; it deployed an economic arsenal, and what began as a bilateral spat has since spiralled into a full-blown crisis.

China last week warned its citizens to avoid travel to Japan, with major Chinese airlines offering full refunds for flights there. On Wednesday, Beijing said it would suspend Japanese seafood imports.

It is not the first time China has wielded its trade and tourism clout as a retaliatory tool to counter security risks, sovereignty threats or to pressure other countries. But observers have cautioned that the risky tactics could provoke international backlash.

The Chinese strategy could affect how regional countries view Beijing, potentially undermining its efforts to position itself as a responsible global power and instead be seen as destabilising the region.

The row between Beijing and Tokyo began earlier this month when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that her country could deploy its military forces in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait – the first time a sitting prime minister has made such remarks, and a departure from Japan’s long-held strategic ambiguity.